


As if by magic

by ceciliasol



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, But Backwards, EVERYONE'S HUMAN, F/F, It's TOH, Lilith is... not so much, Viney's great with kids, amity is still little miss perfect, except luz (and camilia), luz is a witch from the boiling isles, she goes to live in the human world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27156817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceciliasol/pseuds/ceciliasol
Summary: Amity Blight liked to have complete control over her life. That's until an odd witch from a strange other world shows up in her life and sweeps away all of her certainties.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park, Edric Blight/Jerbo
Comments: 72
Kudos: 344





	1. Chapter 1

Amity Blight liked to be in control of all things in her life. Every morning, she woke up earlier than most other students just so she could spare the extra time taming her mane of a hair into a perfectly neat ponytail. She studied hard for the sake of never falling behind in any subjects. She never drank too much, never blacked out at parties, never took chances doing things too outside of her comfort zone. Amity Blight liked to think she was a master of her own destiny.

Naturally, the thirteen-year-old already had her entire life planned out. Mostly by her parents, yes, but she did not see that as a problem: it was a good plan, and she even got to make some suggestions of her own. She’d study at Hexside until graduating High School, then apply to one of the country’s most prominent universities so that she could earn a degree in medicine. After that, she would get qualified as a cardiothoracic surgeon, marry a successful prosecuting attorney, and eventually adopt two kids: in Amity’s idea of her own future, she would never have enough spare time to even consider pregnancy, her career taking obvious precedence.

And after that…

Well, “after that” was something Amity tried not to think too much about. It scared her a little, the idea of one day running out of new goals to pursue. If that ever happened, would she be satisfied with just leaving things the way they are… for the rest of her life? Well, she would have to be. After all, what else would all of these plans even be for, if that wasn’t true?

Amity Blight shook off those worries, like she did every morning. They’d be back by the next morning, but that wouldn’t be a problem for as long as she could avoid thinking about it.

She glanced one last time at the mirror, double checking her hair, then took off to school. She always left at precisely 6:45 am. If all went according to plan — and all usually did — she would arrive at school at 7:30, half-an-hour before the start of first period. Amity made a point to always be on time, it wouldn’t fit her position as head of the student council to arrive late for her classes. The extra 30 minutes would be for studying, and for dealing with any unforeseen circumstances on the way to school. Circumstances such as being tackled by a panicking former friend and then having to face a nightmarish monster of purple ooze.

Here’s how it happened:

Amity had been walking down the cobblestone road that connected the Blight Manor to Hexside Institute. The scenic road crossed a pretty groove, and was perfectly safe for her: nobody in their sane mind would dare touch a hair on a Blight child’s head. She suspected there was heavy surveillance over her every step, but if her parents’ bodyguards were watching her, she never caught sight of them.

It was therefore quite a surprise when Amity heard someone scream. A girl, by the sound of it. She barely had time to look around for the source of the sound, when — out of nowhere — a person collided with her, and they both fell to the ground.

Amity’s first concern wasn’t whether she was in danger: we’ve already established that Amity’s parents would never allow anything to happen to her. No. She was mostly worried about her school uniform, now covered in dirt. Would there be enough time to go back home and change?

Someone groaned beside her: likely the person responsible for the accident. Amity turned to look, and scowled. “Ugh. Great. You.”

Half-Wit Willow, as she was known among her schoolmates. Amity’s childhood friend, whom she’d cut ties with a long time ago. But wasn’t there something off about her? Normally, Willow would have looked annoyed or disgusted to run into Amity. But the look on her face, then, was one of pure terror. Had she been the one who’d screamed? Why?

“Amity?!” exclaimed the girl. “Is this _your_ doing?”

Amity Blight furrowed her brow, confused. “You just rammed into me, Willow. How could this possibly be my fault?”

“I’m not talking about this, I’m talking about—”

A loud guttural sound interrupted her. It sounded like the growl of a ravenous beast. From the corner of her eyes, Amity caught a glimpse of something large and purple moving through the woods to her left. And then it emerged. Something humanoid, about two-meters tall or more, covered in purple ooze, that sounded just about exactly like the zombies from trash midnight TV horror flicks.

“—that,” Willow finished, hesitant.

The creature spotted them, and promptly advanced toward the girls. Amity knew that she should run. Her rapid heartbeat, cold sweat and rising anxiety told the girl that her body was preparing to go into a fight-or-flight response. Still, she did not move. Because that situation was something so bizarre that Amity found herself reactionless. That creature, whatever it was, simply couldn’t exist! It wasn’t logical! Humanoid monsters made of purple goo were the subject of children’s cartoons, like Pokémon, or that other one with the gray-haired lady. Not real life. Real life didn’t have monsters.

And nevertheless, one such monster was just then towering over the girl.

 _This is it_ , thought Amity. _I’m going to die_.

Then, just as the creature was reaching out to grab her, it stopped. Somehow, both of the creature’s legs had been encased in blocks of ice. Actual ice.

The creature stared dismally at the ice blocks for an instant, then did something unthinkable: It pushed against the ice blocks, completely detaching its upper body from the two frozen limbs. A new pair of purple ooze legs instantly grew to replace the missing ones. It grumbled, annoyed, then turned its eyes back to Amity.

It took one tentative step toward her. It seemed to still be adapting to its new pair of legs. It tried to reach for Amity again, but, just then, someone else intervened. A stranger.

“Abomination, stop!” ordered the stranger, standing between Amity and the monster, arms open wide.

The creature halted, let out a very discontented sigh, then dropped to its knees (if one could call them that) and remained perfectly still on the cobblestone path in front of them.

The stranger turned around, and smiled at Amity.

It was a girl, probably about Amity’s age. She had a pixie haircut and a round face, and was wearing earmuffs. In May. If the fact that the girl had just bossed around a huge ooze monster weren’t enough to qualify her as a weirdo, then those earmuffs would be.

“Sorry about that,” said the girl. “I averted my eyes for a spell, and next thing I know this guy’s gone off on a morning stroll. You can never be too cautious with them abominations. Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Earmuffs, or whatever her actual name was, offered Amity a hand to help her to her feet. Amity didn’t take it. She simply stared between the girl and her ooze creature for a moment, before she got up and started walking away from the whole situation as fast as she could. She didn’t look back once, not until she was at the gates of Hexside. And all the way there, she kept repeating three words in her head.

“This didn’t happen.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The world, according to Amity Blight, was a rational place. She didn’t believe in supernatural events of any sort. There was no monster in Loch Ness, no vampires in Transylvania, no mummies in Egypt… wait, no, that last one might actually be real.

Point is: Amity was a skeptic. A two-meter tall humanoid creature made of purple goo? Yep, totally far-fetched.

That was on Monday. By Thursday, Amity had already convinced herself that none of what she saw was real. It wasn’t a real monster. It was probably just a really tall person in a monster suit. With… lots of purple slime all over. And the part where it severed its frozen legs? Amity knew magic tricks way more impressive than that one.

It was a prank, she was sure of it. Just like that one on youtube where a dog dressed as a giant spider chases people in the dead of the night. And the earmuffs girl was in on it too, no doubt, even if she had feigned innocence at the time. Who was she, anyway? Did she live somewhere around?

Oh, well, it didn’t matter. Amity was probably never going to see the girl again.

Or so she thought.

  
  


The Hexside Middle School Student Council had meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays after class. Those meetings were generally short. I mean, it’s not like middle schoolers actually _needed_ a student council. Most of the serious matters were addressed by principal Bump himself, in meetings he held with the teachers and students’ parents. So what was left for the Student Council to handle was mostly minor stuff. But none of that changed how proud Amity was of her position as the president, though.

“That kid from 6B wants a permit to put up some posters,” Bo announced, during the Thursday meeting. She was the one most people went to for requests. People often felt too intimidated by Amity, or too scared of Skara, to ask them instead. And hardly anyone knew Amelia was in the Student Council.

“Ugh, not him again!” said Boscha. Out of the five people there, she was the only one who was not actually a part of the Student Council. She often argued that Rugby practice took too much of her time for her to join, but she still showed up at every meeting all the same. Amity suspected the redhead simply did not like assuming responsibilities.

“What was his name again? I keep forgetting,” Skara asked. She was the vice president, a title that, in a council as small as theirs, held little significance.

“Augustus Porter,” said Bo.

“And what did he say those posters are for, exactly?” Amity asked.

“Apparently, he’s founded a Witch Appreciation Society, and he’s prospecting for new members.”

Boscha snorted. “That is _so_ lame.”

“I don’t know, I think it might be okay, maybe?” said Bo. “I was thinking of joining, if only to find out what it is that they discuss. Did I ever tell you that my grandmother was a witch? Not that I _believe_ that,” she hastily added, “it’s just what people always said about her.”

“Suit yourself,” said Boscha, with mild disdain.

“Ask him to prepare a proof copy of the poster,” Amity instructed Bo. “We’ll need to run it by Bump first, since it’s not official school business. But I suppose I can sign the permit, if Bump’s okay with it.”

“You’re too soft, Ami,” Boscha mocked her. “I don’t see why we even need to listen to those sorts of requests.”

 _That’s because this is the Student Council, Boscha_ , Amity thought. _Listening to the students’ requests is literally the description of the job_.

“What’s next,” she asked Skara, who then briefly inspected a list on the table before answering.

“I think that was the last one,” said the girl.

“Oh, you done?! Great!” Boscha exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “I need to drop by the Lancome store downtown. You girls are coming, right?”

Bo shrugged. Skara and Amelia just nodded. Amity winced.

“Er… today isn’t good for me. I sorta, kinda… have um… chores? At home. I gotta go straight home.”

Boscha scrunched up her nose. “Ugh, chores. Good luck with that.”

  
  


Amity didn’t really have chores. Her parents never actually required her to do anything in the house, unless she actually wanted to. The most she ever did was wash her clothes. But it was a good excuse.

Deep down, she didn’t like that she had to lie to Skara and the others. But this was something very private of hers. They simply wouldn’t understand.

She strolled down the cobblestone street that led to Easthill Square. Once there, the girl quickly glanced around to check that nobody she knew was around, then walked up to the bookstore.

Amity rarely went to that particular bookstore, there were larger, more reliable bookstores closer to her school and home, not to mention the public library, which she loved. But today she had a good reason to go there.

Truth is: Amity completely adored this one series of YA fantasy books, and that bookstore seemed to be the only place in town that had those books in stock. In fact, most of the books there were quite… uncommon. You wouldn’t find Twilight there, but you might get yourself a copy of How To Turn Princes Back To Frogs.

Amity swung the glass door and walked into the shop. The automatic doorbell immediately yeeted “Hoot! Hoot!” to let the owner know she had a customer. It was an owl-themed bookstore, Amity knew, but she still found that doorbell recording particularly obnoxious.

“Oh, hey kid! Your order’s in.” said the owner of the bookstore, from behind a counter. “It’s in the back, just wait a moment and I’ll fetch it for ya.”

Amity thanked her, and watched as the woman left the counter and walked through a service door. Her name was Eda, but barely anyone knew that. Most people just called her “the owl lady”, because of her shop, “The Owl House”. She was a very cranky --- and very dodgy --- middle-aged lady with a veritable mane of gray hair cascading around her face. Amity suspected that the woman was involved in shady deals of some sort, though she would never voice that opinion out loud.

While she waited, the girl decided to take a look around. It was always interesting to see most of those titles. There was a bit of everything there, from romance to entomology, but the recurring theme across most of those was the undeniable strangeness of everything. Whoever would buy an entomology book that described five-feet-tall fruit flies and carnivorous ladybugs?

Going through the aisles between shelves, Amity happened to find a YA book that looked rather interesting. She was just reaching out to take it off the shelf, when someone bumped on her, and she fell on her back.

Again.

Counting Monday, that was twice in a week that people just randomly knocked her down. It was irritating

“Hey, watch it, dude!” she yelled, before she even caught sight of the perpetrator.

“Titan! I’m sorry!” came a voice. Amity turned to look, and saw a girl with a pixie cut and earmuffs holding a pile of books.

“Oh. It’s you. The purple monster girl,” she said, mildly annoyed.

For a moment, the stranger seemed confused. Then her eyebrows shot up. “You’re that girl from the forest? Damn, I keep messing things up, don’t I? First with the abomination, and now I run into you. And you’re a customer, to boot. I should be treating you more nicely. Do you, uh… want an employee’s discount? I’m sorry I can’t offer you much more than that, I only just started working here the other day.”

Amity rolled her eyes. An employee’s discount? Was this girl for real?

“No, thanks. Just get out of my face, Earmuffs,” said Amity. She turned around, and was about to walk away, when she realized her slip of the tongue, and stopped in her tracks, mortified. She glanced back at a very confused girl, and stuttered an explanation: “I--- I mean... because you wear those… you know… those big ass earmuffs in freaking summer. So I kinda… Gah! Forget I just said that!”

She stomped back to the store counter, feeling her entire face grow hot with a blush.

“It was nice meeting you again!” the other girl shouted cheerfully from the aisles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to get a new chapter up each weekend. I'm in med school (currently M2) and shit's tough as nails, but writing is my stress relief, so I really plan to keep this on some sort of writing schedule regardless.


	3. Chapter 3

_Dear diary,_

_I met that weird girl again, today._

_I mean, after that awful prank on Monday, I really thought I wouldn’t see her anymore. Then I find out that she’s working at the Owl House, that library that sells the Azura books. Just my luck, huh? I even called her a stupid nickname and made a complete fool of myself. Maybe I should search online for the Azura books, again? That can’t be the only place on Earth that sells them._

Amity sighed, and stared at the diary page for a moment. “I don’t even know why I’m worrying so much about this,” she said. After the whole prank thing, Amity worried that the video of Willow and her freaking out about the fake monster would go viral on youtube, and people would make fun of her for it. But nobody had said anything since. Amity even tried searching for the video herself, and found nothing. It puzzled her, but it was also a relief.

So if the prank wasn’t Amity’s top concern, what was?

She closed the diary and massaged the bridge of her nose, feeling tired. Just about then, her phone vibrated on the floor, and the screen lit up. Amity picked it up to check.

It was a message from Boscha.

_@queenboscha: Party at Skara’s on Saturday. Her folks are out. You’re coming._

Amity sighed. It’s not that she didn’t like parties. She’d been to several black tie events with her parents, and it was always fun to gather the group to celebrate someone’s birthday. But Skara’s parties… could be a little overwhelming.

She unlocked the phone to reply to Boscha’s message, warning her to not do anything crazy and to at least _try_ no to trash the whole place. Even if there were fifty people in the party, it was always Amity and her group who ended up having to clean the place afterward.

Annoyed at the prospect of wasting yet another perfectly good weekend having to deal with Boscha’s antics, Amity got up from the floor, replaced her diary on the shelf, and walked out of her little hideout: an unused service room in the public library, partially hidden by the bookshelves, for which only she had the key. She always went there to write in her diary, or just to spend some time alone: both things that would be impossible back home. She wouldn’t trust a diary where her siblings could find it.

Just as she was walking down the steps in front of the library, Amity heard her phone vibrating once again. Another message from Boscha, no doubt. Now what could it be, this time?

_@queenboscha: Also, I got you a date._

Amity winced. Things just couldn’t get any worse.

Or could they?

\---

Just as Amity had foreseen, the party at Skara’s was a pain. It was crowded, for starters. Skara had somehow managed to invite even more people than last time, and this made the mess in her living room at least that much worse. The air was filled with smoke, parfum and electronic pop music. Everyone there was a teenager, and most or all were older than Amity. It came from being your parents’ little genius: Amity had skipped third grade, she was a year younger than everyone else in her class. Skara and Boscha were already fifteen, but she had yet to turn fourteen.

There was also alcohol. Nevermind the fact that most people there weren’t of legal age to drink: nobody cared.

Drunk teenagers being irresponsible? Check. Boscha getting herself drunk within thirty minutes of arriving there? Check. Skara being obnoxious? Check and then again. But all of that was nothing compared to _that other thing_.

“Cheer up, it’ll be fun,” Boscha had told her by phone, earlier that day.

“I don’t know about that, Boscha,” said Amity, tense. “Why did you have to do this? I never asked you to find me someone.”

“It’s just that you always look a little bored at parties. You tend to go all wallflower and you keep checking your phone all the time. Isn’t it more fun if you’re with a guy?”

Amity winced. Boscha wasn’t entirely wrong. At least the part about her getting bored. “Still, you should have asked me, first. I don’t even know who that guy is.”

“Chill, girl. It’s just Amelia’s cousin. Besides, you probably know him. Tall, skinny, brown hair, has kind of a pointy chin. He’s in your sister’s class. Jeremy or something.”

“My sister’s… wait! _Boscha!_ He’s older than me!”

“Uh, yeah. Duh. Girls our age go out with older guys all the time.”

“Yeah, but _not me!_ ” Amity tried to argue.

“And we’re about to change that,” said Boscha, very matter-of-factly. “Now come, I’m outside your place. You’re ready, right?”

Amity sighed. “Yes. I’m coming downstairs,” she told her friend.

Twenty minutes later, Amity was finally introduced to her mysterious date. And it turned out that Amity did know him. Jerbo, not Jeremy. Boscha was really bad with names. The guy had already been to her place quite a few times in the past, for some sort of study session with her brother Edric. Apparently, Jerbo thought it was very amusing that Amity was supposed to be his date. He tried to hide a laugh, with no success. Amity felt mortified.

On the bright side, at least Jerbo didn’t try to flirt with her. They had exactly the same amount of interest in each other as a potential partner, which is none at all. Fifteen minutes after they met, however, Edric and Emira arrived at the party, and Jerbo ditched Amity to go have fun with her brother.

“You invited the twins?!” Amity asked Skara, baffled.

“Uh, yea… they’re cool…” said the girl. “You don’t mind, do ya?”

Amity rolled her eyes. “Nope. Not at all,” she lied. Why would she be bothered that her siblings were at the same party as her? It’s not like they were pranksters who would constantly find ways to embarrass Amity in exchange for a few laughs. Except yes, that’s exactly what they would do. Amity sighed, for what seemed like the millionth time that evening, and walked back to the living room, ready to enter wallflower mode once again. She glanced around once at how destroyed the place had become, and reconsidered.

“That’s it. I’m done,” she told herself. It didn’t even matter that she’d said it out loud. It’s not like anyone would listen to her over the blaring electropop. She’d call a cab to drive her home and deal with the consequences later.

Amity walked out of the house and into the front lawn. She quickly requested a cab on her phone, then sat down on the grass to wait for it. There were several others sitting on the lawn as well, at least half of which were making out. But at least it was quieter than inside.

She saw more people coming to the party. Granted, Skara’s place was big, but that still seemed like way too many people in a single place. Most of them she didn’t know. A few were from Hexside. And then…

 _No way_.

Amity did a double take, barely believing her eyes. It couldn’t be?

“Okay, who the heck invited Half-Wit Willow?” Amity whispered, to nobody in particular.

“I did,” said a voice from beside her. Amity knew who it was before even looking. Amelia.

Amity shot her a puzzled look, and whispered: “Why?!”

The girl just shrugged. “Because she’s my friend. Besides, Boscha is here, and I think this is going to get interesting.”

Amity stared at her friend, wide-eyed. Amelia had invited Willow over _because_ Boscha was there? That was like sending a lamb to the slaughter. And Amelia had called herself Willow’s “friend”.

“I think this is going too far, Amelia.”

The taller girl dismissed her. “We won’t know until we try. Besides, the sooner Boscha admits it, the better it will be for the both of them.”

Amity furrowed her brow. Admit… what? She opened her mouth to question Amelia, but it was too late. The girl was already walking across the yard to greet Willow and her friend.

Wait. Friend?

It took her a moment to recognize the person standing beside Willow: enough time for the girl to also take notice of her, as well. Earmuffs wasn’t actually wearing her trademark earmuffs this time. Rather, she was wearing a beanie, an alien-themed overall, and a blazer. Surprisingly, she looked nice. Weird, yes. But nice.

The girl smiled at her, then waved, and started walking up to her. Amity buried her face in her knees, secretly hoping she could disappear.

That alerted Willow of her presence. “Oh, hello, Amity,” said the girl, coldly.

Amity didn’t have it in her to snap back.

“Amity! That’s a cool name!” said Earmuffs. “I guess I forgot to introduce myself too, the other day. I’m Luz,” she offered Amity a handshake, which she didn’t take.

“Wait, so you two know each other?” Amelia asked, surprised.

“We kinda bumped into one another, the same day I met Luz,” Willow explained.

 _Just leave me alone_ , said a voice in Amity’s head.

“That’s not all,” said Earmuffs, or rather, Luz. “She came to the bookstore, last Thursday. You know, the one I’m working at? She’s our customer.”

Amity felt her entire face grow hot, and knew she must be blushing fiercely. _Please, please, stop_.

“Thursday?” Amelia asked, suddenly very interested. “So, you mean Thursday after the meeting when you said you had to go straight home? That you had chores? Ami, why would you hide this from us?” Amity didn’t respond. She didn’t want them to know. And she couldn’t for the love of her come up with a reasonable excuse when confronted like that. Amelia figured out there was something fishy about it all. “Is it something you can’t tell your friends? Did you buy porn?”

“Of course not!!” Amity snapped.

Luz giggled. “No, nothing like that,” said the girl. “She had an order for a book,” Amity’s blood ran cold. She was going to tell them. Oh no. “A fantasy one. It’s called The Good---”

“You’re wrong,” Amity interrupted her. She was staring straight into Luz’s eyes, suddenly filled with determination. “I was never at any library on Thursday. You’re mistaking me for someone else.” Her peripheral vision spotted a cab parked right in front of Skara’s house. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my cab just arrived.” And with just those words, she left.

A few minutes later, while on her way home, panic finally took over her.

 _That’s it,_ thought the girl. _I’m finished. I’ll never be able to look Amelia or Willow in the face again._

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just gotta drop everything else you're doing and pour your soul and mind into writing, ya know?
> 
> Those times are better appreciated when you don't have an upcoming anesthesiology exam.
> 
> Oh, well.


	4. Chapter 4

_Dear diary,_

_Guess what? That girl again._

_Apparently, she’s called Luz, she’s friends with Willow and Amelia, and those earmuffs aren’t surgically connected to her skull or anything. She was wearing a beanie this time._ ~~_Maybe she’s ashamed of her ears?_~~ _It doesn’t matter. I don’t really care about her._

_Also, she told everyone I like Azura. I’m never going into that bookstore again._

_In fact, I might not even leave my room from now on._

  
  


The alarm rang on top of the nightstand, and Amity tried to open her eyes. It was hard. She’d had a crappy night of sleep. One look into the mirror, and she knew she was going to need extra makeup to get through the day.

The memories of last night came back to her, and she winced. Shit.

What now? Come Monday she’d find out her social life was over. The girls would quit the student council, and she’d be alone. All because of one stupid pretty bookstore clerk who couldn’t keep her trap shut.

There was a knock at her door.

“Mittens? You in there?”

For a moment, Amity considered pretending to still be asleep. She wasn’t in the mood to actually face other human beings just yet. But her alarm had already sounded, and she’d have to get up soon anyway.

“Come in,” she replied.

Emira opened the door, and walked into the room. Despite it being summer, she found her sister buried under a blanket and shut off from the outside world.

“Mittens? You okay, sis?”

“M’fine,” Amity grumbled.

“Really?” Emira pressed. “Because I heard from Jerbo that you were at Skara’s yesterday, yet I never saw you there. I got worried.”

Amity sighed. Regardless of how horrible her siblings acted at times, they still seemed to care about her in their own way. She pulled the covers from her face.

“I left early,” she declared. “Wasn’t really feeling it,” then she lowered her voice slightly before saying the next part: “You didn’t tell mom, did you? That I was there?”

“Of course not, sis,” Emira whispered back. “I heard you tell mom yesterday that you were just going to study at Boscha’s. Trust me, sis, I don’t want you getting into trouble with ma and pa. Neither does Edric.”

Amity let out a breath of relief. “Thanks,” she said. “What did you two tell them?”

Emira smirked. “That we were going to a party, of course.”

“Really?!” Amity asked.

“Yes. Well. No. I think the words we used were more on the line of ‘dinner celebration’? And we might have mentioned a posh restaurant, or something.”

Amity snorted, remembering the sorry state of Skara’s living room last night. “Posh restaurant, yes,” she mocked.

“In any case,” Emira continued. “ _Are_ you all right? Jerbo’s been bugging me about it. His cousin said something about you meeting Willow and… well, I was worried.”

Amity froze again. “How much did you hear?”

“How much?” asked Emira, surprised. “Just that you met Willow, you got angry, and you left. Oh, and also that Boscha apparently set you up with Jerbo, which,” Emira chuckled mid-sentence, “is really, really funny.”

 _Good_ , thought Amity. _They don’t know about Earm--- Luz._

“That’s all that happened,” she lied.

“Really?” Emira inquired further. “You’re not hiding anything from me, are you, Mittens?”

“Nope. Now leave, I’ve gotta change.”

Amity jumped off the bed, and started to hurry Emira out of the room.

“You can change with me here,” Emira protested. “I still have some questions.”

“One: we haven’t done that since we were kids, so no. Two: this is my room. Three: you’ve gone over your nosyness limit for today. Try again tomorrow.” She pushed Emira through the doorway, and shut the door between them.

 _All right. Gotta get my act together_.

  
  


The morning went mostly fine. The twins stopped asking her questions, mainly because they were in the presence of Alador and Odalia Blight, and nobody wanted their parents to know where the trio _really_ spent the previous evening.

Amity also ignored a bunch of calls from Boscha and Skara. She knew what they were going to say. First they’d ask "are you all right?” and “what happened last night?” and then they’d move on to ask her to go help clean up the house. Amity felt that, after the awful evening she had mostly been forced to partake, she had a right to refrain from clean-up duty this time. She still hadn’t come up with a reasonable excuse for her behavior, either. She could feign sickness, but everyone would know that she was lying. Maybe she could blame it on Jerbo ditching her, and pretend she was heartbroken. Except that the thought of herself pretending she was heartbroken over _Jerbo_ left a bad taste in her mouth.

Whatever, that was a problem for later.

She finished her homework quickly, had supper with her parents, then left for the theatre, just like every other Sunday.

The crew was already there by the time she arrived. Amity smiled. The theatre club was still the best part of her week. She greeted the kids as she entered the stage, as well as the two other members of the club: her teacher, Lilith, and her acting partner, Viney. They both noticed that Amity wasn’t exactly in high spirits, that day, but decided not to press her on it, and the girl was really grateful for that.

“Now, children, what shall we do, today?” Lilith asked.

“A dog!” said one of the kids.

“The moon!” said another.

“I wanna be a princess,” called yet another.

And soon they were all offering suggestions. Viney watched, amused, as their teacher tried to find a suggestion that would please everyone. She wasn’t having much success with that.

“She still can’t really manage them, right?” Viney whispered.

“She’s trying, though,” said the younger girl.

Viney nodded. “True. True.”

Their acting group had begun as an adult troupe, with Lilith as their mentor. But the group was struggling to survive, and the number of members was dwindling. When it was just down to Amity and Viney, the latter came up with the suggestion to turn it into theatre classes for kids, and it worked wonders. Both girls loved it, and so did the kids. Lilith, however, just wasn’t cut out for dealing with kids. It would all have descended into full-blown anarchy if Viney and Amity weren’t there to help.

“All right, comrades,” said Viney, clapping to draw the kids’ attention. “I just had the _bestest_ idea. Can you guess who I am?” She walked to the front of the stage, and turned around to address them. “Ahoy, me mateys! T’is be the day we strike gold! With me treasure map,” she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket (it was a leaflet for a pizza parlor), “and this compass to guide us,” she took her phone from another pocket, “today we sail the seven seas!”

The kids all started to laugh. “A pirate!” several of them said.

Amity grinned, all of her worries suddenly fading to the back of her mind. “Aye aye!” she exclaimed. “But to sail the seas, we shall need a captain. Do you know who our captain will be?”

One of the children gasped. “Miss Lilith?!”

“Blimey! You’re right! The great Captain Lilith, the terror of the seas.”

She snickered at Lilith, who now had to improvise a pirate act.

And then, it started. The children picked roles, came up with a plot of sorts, and for the next two hours, enacted a completely improvised and highly creative play about the cursed treasure of Jelly Bean Roger and the magic werewolf fairies.

At some moment, halfway through the lesson, Amity glanced at the audience (which was usually just two or three parents who liked to watch the classes) and spotted a familiar face. One she did not expect to find in there at all. The sight put a damper on her enthusiasm, and the rest of the lesson just dragged on for her.

Once they were finished, Amity grabbed her satchel from the backstage lockers, and left the theater, not caring to check if the intruder was still there or not. She didn’t want to see her again. At all. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have it out for her.

“Amity!” a voice called, stopping the girl in her tracks just as she was leaving the theatre. Hell.

She closed her eyes, and counted to ten, before turning around to address the other girl.

“Luz,” she said, annoyed. “Why are you here?”

“Wow, Amity, you…” she was acting a little awkward. _Out with it_ , Amity’s brain silently ordered. “Teaching kids…”

“It’s for extra credit,” Amity deadpanned.

“Is it?”

“Yes. No. Ugh. Leave me alone!”

She turned to leave.

“Wait!” Luz exclaimed. “Amelia said you’d be here. I… came looking for you.”

“Why?!” snapped Amity, snarky. “Everytime I see you, it’s trouble! Either you embarrass me in front of someone, or I make a fool of myself, or both! So why are you still after me?! What’s your deal?!”

“I wanted to apologize.”

Those words disarmed Amity. She was just about ready to blow up at the Earmuffs girl, but the way Luz said it, it was like she really meant it. _Curse you, Amity Blight, for being this soft_ , she told herself.

“All right,” said Amity, slightly less irritated. “Go on.”

“I’m sorry for the scare I gave you, last Monday. And I’m sorry for bumping into you at the bookstore. But… most of all, I’m really sorry for what happened yesterday. I didn’t mean for it to happen, and… I’d like to make amends.”

Amity averted her eyes. She was caving, and she hated it. “You wouldn’t understand. After what you said yesterday, they’re going to think I’m a liar and...” _and a dork who reads YA fantasy novels_ , she thought, but did not dare say. She wasn’t just embarrassed about her hobby, she was also ashamed that she just couldn’t own up to it, because she was afraid of what people would say. That they’d think less of her for it.

“They won’t think that,” said Luz, and for a second Amity wondered if the other girl could actually read her mind. “About you being at the bookstore, I mean,” Luz added. “After you were gone, I told them I had made a mistake, and it really wasn’t you that I saw that day. I think I’ve managed to sound convincing.”

That surprised Amity. Maybe there was still hope for her social life? For her image as the Perfect Miss Amity Blight?

“Did you really?” she asked, receiving a nod from Luz in response. “Well… I suppose that counts for something.”

“Victory!” Luz announced quietly, and even added a fist pump.

Amity giggled. “You’re so weird.”

“Soooo… are we friends, then?” Luz asked.

“No,” Amity deadpanned, and watched Luz’ face fall in disappointment. _My goodness, what an earnest person she is._ “Not yet, anyway,” said Amity, and she didn’t miss the glimmer of hope on the other’s eyes. “You’ve gotta earn it first.”

“Right!” said Luz, suddenly filled with determination. “Should we eat ice scream together? Maybe climb a mountain and fight a ferocious beast? Oh! I know! I can join you in the theatre club! I do the best monster impressions!”

Amity winced. “How about something small, for now? I’ll… drop by the bookstore sometime this week. We can take it from there.”

Luz smiled at her. Amity had honestly never seen such a beautiful smile before.

“Sure! Sounds great!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy.


	5. Chapter 5

_Dear diary,_

_Luz showed up at my job today, earmuffs and all. Says she wants to be my friend. I don’t trust her, of course, I can’t tell what she’s thinking. I told her I’d give her a chance, but maybe I got ahead of myself. What if she’s using me? What if… what if Willow’s planning some sort of revenge on me, and the girl is a part of it? Or maybe Luz just wants to get close to me because I’m a Blight? Wealth and status and all those things. Mother warned me this would happen. It happened before, after all._

_If only she hadn’t seemed so earnest._

_If only she hadn’t smiled like th_

Amity stopped writing, exasperated. Why the heck was she thinking about the girl’s smile? Why would that even matter?

She sighed.

“I really am going crazy, aren’t I?” Amity spoke to the empty room.

~~_If only she hadn’t smiled like th_ ~~

*

Friday.

Amity had spent the whole week agonizing over it. She wished she hadn’t promised to meet Luz at the Owl House. Because now the week was nearly over, and she still hadn’t mustered up the courage to do so. It shouldn’t be so hard. Luz was just a girl. A weirdo who liked to pull pranks and worked at a bookstore. Worst case scenario, she’d turn out to be some sort of social climber, and Amity would simply have to end things there and then.

The walk to the Owl House was a long one. As she walked, Amity tried not to overthink things, with limited success. She nearly turned around to return at least three times. She couldn’t, though. Amity was never one to go back on her words.

The sign on the door told customers that the Owl House was open. Amity took a deep breath, and entered the shop.

“Hoot hoot!” yeeted the obnoxious doorbell as she swung the door open. Amity winced. She had forgotten about that.

“Hello, kid!” Eda called from behind the counter. She was sitting with her feet over the counter, playing some sort of video-game (was that a Playstation Switch? Amity couldn’t really tell, she hadn’t the faintest interest in video-games).

“Hi, Owl Lady. You really should do something about that doorbell recording. It’s awful. I swear it scares away your customers.”

“Nothing I can do about that,” said the bookstore owner, without looking up from her game. “It came with the house, and it has somehow rooted itself into the building. Not even sorcery can remove it. Believe me, I tried.”

Amity frowned, and took a few steps forward, examining her surroundings.

Eda finally lifted her eyes from the portable game screen. “So, what can I do for you today, kid? I’m sorry, but Book Five of the Azura series isn’t due for release for another month or two. I’ll call you to let you know when I have it.”

Amity smiled. “Thanks, but… I’m here for Luz, today.”

The Owl Lady raised an eyebrow, surprised. Amity felt her face grow hot, suddenly realizing how weird the whole thing was.

“She… um… is she here? I could just… come back later?”

Eda smiled, and got up from her chair. “She’s out right now. On Fridays I have her run some errands for me, pick up deliveries and the like. But she’s been out for a while, I expect she’ll be back soon. Care to wait for her?”

Amity considered it. She could simply go back home, Eda would tell Luz that Amity had stopped by, and that meant Amity had technically honored her promise. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that something small like that wouldn’t stop Luz from trying to befriend her.

 _The sooner this is over, the better_.

“I suppose I’ll wait, then,” she told Eda.

“Can I offer you something, while you wait? Coffee? Tea?”

“Um… Tea is fine.”

Eda nodded, and went to the back of the shop. She came back a minute later, holding two mugs, one of which she placed on the table in front of Amity. She sat down on one of the armchairs of the main area of the bookstore, and motioned for Amity to do the same.

“So, how do you know Luz?” Eda asked her. It surprised Amity. Was the Owl Lady simply trying to make small talk, or was that some sort of interrogation?

Amity opened her mouth to say that she didn’t actually know Luz, and that she was only there because of some stupid promise she made. But she reconsidered. She’d rather avoid going into the whole story of the party at Skara’s.

“We have friends in common,” was what the girl said, instead. A lie. It felt strange to call Willow her friend.

“I see…” said the Owl Lady, simply. The woman sipped her tea, slowly, and Amity couldn’t tell whether she’d believed her or not.

“Um… if you don’t mind, miss Owl Lady… can I ask you some questions?”

“That depends,” said Eda. “Are you with the cops?”

“Err… no.”

“Are you a journalist?”

“No.”

“National security?”

“Of course not.”

“Then ask away.”

Amity smirked. Eda was _definitely_ involved in shady deals of some sort. 

“I was just wondering about Luz,” said Amity. “Is she from around here? I don’t think I’ve seen her around before, and she has an accent.”

Eda sipped her coffee, slowly. For a moment, Amity thought that the Owl Lady wouldn’t offer her an answer at all. Finally, she said:

“Luz is… I suppose you could call her an exchange student.”

Amity’s mouth formed an “O” with understanding. That made some sense.

“And where does she study? Kingsville? Lowell Institute?”

“Currently, neither,” said the bookstore owner. “I’m thinking of enrolling her in Hexside come next semester. That kid’s been bugging me about it. Apparently, she has a friend there.”

“Willow…” Amity whispered, mostly to herself. Then something else the woman had said caught the girl’s attention. “Hold on… you mean you’re the one who’s going to enroll her? Are you her family, then? I don’t mean to sound rude, but you two don’t look much alike.”

“Oh, nothing of the sort,” said Eda. “Luz is my… err… actually, I don’t really know how to put it. My protegée? Business partner? Something in between, probably.”

Amity nodded, slowly. “I see…”

“I’m happy that she’s out there making friends, though,” said Eda. “Kid’s a bit of a loner, always with her head stuck in a book. Says she didn’t have many friends back in her hometown. I don’t know this Willow chick she speaks of, but I like you, Amity. Do me a favor and try to keep that kid out of trouble, okay? I may not look like it, but I worry about her.”

Eda’s words caught Amity somewhat off guard. She hadn’t expected the Owl Lady to have such fondness for the earmuffs girl. So Luz was a loner? She didn’t have friends back home so that’s why she’s trying to make friends here? Doesn’t sound like a social climber. Maybe Amity’s distrust of her was unjustified?

The conversation was cut short by a voice coming from the back of the store. A door was swung open, and Luz walked into the bookstore.

“Eda, I got your potions, but I couldn’t really find the talisman you asked me for. Also, Piniet told me he’ll send more leftovers as soon as the Book Fair’s over. Did you need any unicorn horns? ’Cause I got like, a doz—”

Luz stopped talking once she realized that Eda wasn’t alone in the store.

“Oh…” she said, simply.

Amity smiled. “Hello, Luz.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short chapter 'cuz I'm having a bit of a writer's block at the moment. I actually wrote this chapter like five times, and scraped the first four drafts. I hope I'll have more luck with the next updates.


	6. Chapter 6

“Amity? You’re… here?”

Amity smirked. “I did say I would come, didn’t I? I’m a woman of my word, miss Luz.”

Luz laughed amiably. “I can see that,” she agreed. Then, addressing the bookstore owner, Luz began to ask: “Hey, Eda, is it okay if I…”

The older woman just chuckled. “You know I’m not your mother, right?” she asked Luz. “Besides, you’re only helping me out, it’s not like I’m gonna hold you to shift hours or anything. Don’t want the cops  bugging me about child labor. Go on. Run along, now.”

Luz grinned, took Amity’s hand — to the girl’s surprise — and then walked with her out of the shop.

“So… what now?” she asked.

Amity was a little startled by that question. “I was expecting you to have some sort of plan,” she told Luz.

“I don’t really know the city very well,” said the other.

Right. Transfer student. Amity should have foreseen that. She looked up. The sun blazed above them, a warm, soft breeze blew, and the cicadas could be heard crying in the distance. It reminded Amity a lot of when she went to the beach with her siblings, as children. The only things missing were mint chocolate ice cream and the smell of sunscreen.  It suddenly gave her an urge to visit a certain place from her childhood, and she wondered if her new acquaintance would be up for it.

“I know a place,” she said. “But it’s a bit of a walk.”

“I don’t mind walking. Walking is fun,” said Luz. Amity shrugged, and started strolling downhill, with Luz by her side.

“So…” Amity began to say, trying to make small talk. “Eda said you were a transfer student. When did you arrive at the country?”

“I think it was…” Luz began to count on her fingers. “Two weeks ago? Maybe two and a half.”

“Do you like it here?” Amity asked.

Luz nodded. “It’s pretty. It’s quiet. There’s no huge beast chasing you down and trying to make you its dinner.” Amity raised her eyebrows. Where exactly  _did_ that girl come from? “Besides,” Luz continued. “Here you have these cool technology thingies. These, err… ¿como sé llaman? Wise phones? The little black boxes.”

Amity furrowed her brow. “Oh… you mean these?” she took her iPhone from her pocket, and showed it to Luz, who nodded happily.  _That’s strange_ , thought Amity. “So you mean you don’t have smartphones back in your country?”

“Nope,” said Luz. Amity scanned her face for any signs of deception, but found none. It made no sense, even if Luz was a foreigner. Amity was pretty sure smartphones were some sort of universal contemporary reality. You could probably get reception in Antarctica.

“So, if you don’t have phones, how do you keep in touch with other people? Letters?”

“Of course not, we’re not that primitive,” said Luz, giggling. “We use scrolls.”

_That’s it_ , thought Amity.  _The girl’s completely cuckoo._

They kept walking for a while, Luz occasionally making remarks about the streets, the people, and everything she found enchanting about the city. Amity kept silent most of the time, just listening, and wondering what the heck she was doing there, talking to that  loony . Apparently, if Luz was to be believed, they also didn’t have cars in her home country. That one made Amity snicker.

“Right. Do you use carriages? Or fly on magic carpets, maybe?”

“Oh, no. Magic staffs, actually,” said Luz, sounding completely sincere.

Amity chortled. She finally realized what the girl’s deal was. She was just goofing around, of course.

“Mama won’t let me have a staff of my own, to be honest,” Luz sighed.

“She’s right,” said Amity, deciding to play along. “You have to be at least sixteen to fly by yourself. I don’t think they’ll let you get a magic staff permit just yet.”

“Spoilsport,” Luz complained. “But I suppose you’re right… kind of a bummer, though. So, what about you? What do you like about this city?”

Amity considered the other girl’s question for a moment.

“Well, I usually hang out at the library,” she said. “And yes, I know how that sounds. But I’m not really a nerd or anything,” she felt the need to explain herself, like she often did to Boscha and the others. “I like it because it’s quiet. Besides, I gotta keep my grades up, and I’d rather study at the library than at home.”

The truth was that Amity would rather be anywhere other than home. It was the reason why she’d convinced one of the bookkeepers at the library to let her use that empty service room. But she wasn’t going to tell  a complete stranger like Luz all those uncomfortable details about her family.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a nerd, though?” said Luz.

“Speaking from experience, Earmuffs?” Amity teased her. Then she hesitated. They weren’t close enough for nicknames yet, were they?

The girl didn’t seem to mind it, however. “You bet it,” she said. “Name’s Luz Noceda, proud and happy nerd. With a dark side.”

Amity giggled. “You’re amusing,” she told Luz.

“And you’re pretty,” Luz replied, nonchalantly.

That nearly made Amity choke. Luz stopped walking and looked her in the eyes, worried.

“You okay, Amity? Need help? Some water, maybe?”

Amity shook her finger, signing a “no”, while she coughed a few more times. “I’m fine,” she said, with a hoarse voice.

Luz tapped her shoulder. Amity turned to look and found her  new  friend holding a glass of water. Amity stared at it, distrustful. Where did that glass of water come from? The two girls were standing in the middle of the street, there was nowhere Luz could have fetched a glass of water from. It’s almost as if Luz had conjured it out of thin air.

“Uh, thanks…” said Amity, accepting the glass. She sipped it. The water was lukewarm. “Sure is hot today,” she pointed out.

“Is it?” Luz asked. “I can’t tell.”

Amity wrinkled her forehead, stunned. How could Luz not be feeling warm with those earmuffs of hers? “You know, not many people wear earmuffs in the Summer,” she pointed out.

“They don’t?!” Luz asked, visibly surprised.

“Not really,” said Amity. “How did you not know that?”

“Oh, it’s just… Eda was the one who gave them to me. She said it’s normal for humans to wear these.”

“Sounds to me like Eda is pulling your leg,” Amity declared. It wasn’t lost on her how the other girl had just said “humans” as if she did not belong in the category herself. But having already established that Luz liked to play pretend, she didn’t think much of it.

She took another sip of water. Cold and refreshing water. Huh? Wait, what?

Amity looked at the glass she was holding. There were ice cubes floating in the water. Strange. Those had definitely not been there before. Or had they?

“Hey, isn’t that...” Luz began to ask.

Amity looked up, and glanced around. Luz had her eyes set on three people standing by the sidewalk, a little further down the street. Amity had to squint a little to see — curse her myopia —, but suddenly she realized who it was.

“Willow!” Luz called. “Heeey, Willow!” she kept saying, while waving at the other.

Amity tugged at Luz’s sleeve, nervously. “Luz, err… I— I think I need to get going. I have, uh… some homework I need to get done. I’ll… see you around, okay?”

“What? Why?” asked a befuddled Luz. “Amity, wait!” she called, but Amity was already running up the street, trying to get as far away from Willow and her fathers as she could.

Amity should have known this would happen. Willow was Luz’s friend. If Amity was to hang out with Luz, she was bound to run into Willow at some point. And Amity wasn’t ready to relive everything that had happened between Willow and her. Not yet.

“This was a mistake,” she told herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Amity was lying in her bed, re-reading the fourth volume of The Good Witch Azura for what was probably the seventh time. Still a month before the next volume comes out. It made her chest ache a little to think of it. She would have to go back to the Owl House, and face Luz. Then she’d have to offer her some explanation on the whole situation between her and Willow. Yuck. Not looking forward to that.

She had searched the web. Again. Against all odds, there was still no mention of that book series anywhere on the web. It was almost like one of those conspiracy theory things, where a huge secret is being kept from you.

Amity closed the book and laid on her back. She stared idly at the ceiling. Was Summer break always this dull? Just two weeks into it and the girl couldn’t wait to be back at school. At least there she could occupy her time with classes and homework. Plus, she got to see her friends every day. Boscha and Skara and Bo and even Amelia.

_ And Willow. _

The thought sprung into the girl’s mind against her will. “Willow’s not my friend, why should I care about her?” she told herself. “Besides, she’s got her own friends. Like that kid Augustus, and Luz.”

Wait.

Luz.

Damn.

Amity sighed. She’d just remembered something important. Come September, it wouldn’t be just the usual people at Hexside anymore. Didn’t Eda, the Owl Lady, say she was going to enroll Luz in Hexside too? Suddenly, she lost all of that will to go back to school. It wouldn’t matter whether or not she went to the Owl House for the new Azura novel. She’d just be delaying the inevitable.

Right. She had to deal with this. Come on, Amity, you’re a Blight. You’re the very opposite of a coward. If anyone can do this, it’s you.

She got up from the bed, determined. On her way down the stairs, she found her sister Emira sitting at the dining room table, relentlessly typing something on her phone.

“Hey,” Amity called.

“Sup, Mittens?” said Emira, eyes still glued to the screen.

“I’m heading out for a bit. If parents ask, I’m at the library.”

“And if you vanish for three days, where should we look for your dismembered body?” said the older Blight. Amity shook her head, and rolled her eyes. It was always like that with the twins. They had a way of joking about even the most serious subjects. It was sweet, actually. This was basically Emira’s way of saying “hey, I wanna know where you’re going so I don’t get too worried.” Amity just wished Emira was a bit more conscientious about her choice of words.

“I’m going to a bookstore up Easthill Lane.”

Emira nodded. “The Owl House, right?”

“That’s the one,” said Amity, before exiting the house. “I should be back by... five, I think.”

Emira raised an eyebrow at that, and looked up from her phone for the first time in the conversation. She stared at  Amity with some interest. “That’s a lot of time just to buy a book.  What are you  _really_ up to, little sis? ”

Amity frowned. “It’s none of your business, Em.”

Before Emira could press her further, Amity walked through the doorway and shut the door to Blight Manor. That didn’t go so well. No, actually, that went terribly. Now Emira would get suspicious. She’d think Amity had a secret boyfriend or something of the sort. She’d want to investigate. Even if there was nothing Amity should be ashamed of, just having her siblings digging up details about her private life was  plenty annoying.

Amity shook off that thought and started making her way to the bookstore. She was starting to get used to it by now.  One thing she’d never get used to, though, was the obnoxious “hoot hoot” doorbell.

The sign on the door said “Open,” yet there was nobody in the bookstore once Amity walked in. The shelves were disorganized, and some books were on the floor. She walked around, calling for both Eda and Luz, until she found the former sitting on an armchair in the back of the shop. Eda wasn’t looking her best. She looked ill.

“Hey. Kid,” said the woman. “You know, I really should start learning your names, it seems that the number of kids in my life just won’t stop growing.”

Amity furrowed her brow. “I’m sorry, what?”

Eda simply pointed to her left. Amity looked, and noticed for the first time that there was a crib near a few  crates. And inside it, there were… three babies!

“Eda?!” Amity called, exasperated. “You have kids?!”

“They ain’t mine,” the Owl Lady explained. “I’m babysitting these for an acquaintance of mine. Oh, no, no. Don’t look at me like that, kid. I didn’t ask for it or anything. She just showed up and dumped the little devils on me, what was I to do?”

Amity chuckled. “They’re cute,” she said. The three babies looked a lot alike. Triplets, probably. And they were all wearing bat-themed onesies for some unfathomable reason. They reminded her of Luz: quirky at first glance, yet undeniable cute.

No. Hold on. The babies. Just the babies are cute. Luz wasn’t cute. There’s no way she’d think that weirdo was cute.

“I can see the cogs spinning inside your head, kid,” said Eda, snapping Amity out of her musings. “Don’t think so much, it’s not healthy. I learned it the hard way.” Amity chuckled. _Don’t think too much? What kind of advice was that?_

The Owl Lady got to her feet, and walked to where Amity was standing, near the cradle. Suddenly she looked at least ten years older. Was that what having children did to you?

“So, what can I help you with?” said Eda. “Books? Or Luz?”

Amity felt herself blush. “Err… Luz, actually.”

“She’s upstairs, in her room,” Eda informed her.

That surprised the girl.  _Upstairs in… her room? D_ _oes_ _Luz actually live here?_

“By the way, would you be so kind as to switch that “Open” sign on the door to “Closed”? I don’t really feel like dealing with customers today. Not after… them,” she motioned at the babies.

Amity nodded.  “ Will do. T hank you, miss Eda… Can you…” She looked around, con f used. “I don’t see any stairs.”

“Go through the door behind the Adventure section. Need me to take you there?”

Amity shook her head. She didn’t really want to disturb the shop owner  when she was so exhausted and ill-looking .

“No thanks. I think I can manage,” she said, before walking back to the front of the shop. She switched the sign on the door, as per Eda’s request, then walked over to the bookstore that she knew held the adventure fiction books. Was there really a door there?

To the girl’s surprise, it seemed that there was.  Amity used to think herself perceptive. How had she not noticed it before then?

Amity swung the door open and walked into…

...a living room.

“So this really is a house, after all,” Amity whispered. There was a set of stairs to her left. Amity wasted no time getting to the top of it, and then she walked down the corridor, inspecting the doors to her right.

The first one was a bedroom with a large bed covered in feathers. Feathers! Amity noticed. So the Owl Lady actually owned a bird. She had a fairly good idea of what species of bird it would be.

The next  door actually opened  in to a small, squarish room filled with crates and a lone  briefcase sitting in the middle of the room.  It was a quirky item, mostly due to the large yellow eye with a black slit pupil sitting right in the middle of it. Amity was about to turn away, but she had to do a double take. Did that eye just… blink?

Amity kept staring for a few seconds, waiting to see if it  would happen again . Then she realized how silly she was being  (there’s no way that’s a real eye!) , and left the room to look for Luz elsewhere.

The third door proved to be the correct one. Amity opened the door to find a room filled with posters on the walls, miniature figures o n the desk, and comic books on the shelves. She  instantly noticed that several of the items were themed after the Azura book series. One of the posters even had a signature  scribbled at the bottom. Was that from the author?! Who even wrote those novels to begin with? It always seemed a little odd to Amity that the books had no author name on the cover.

And lying sprawled on the bed, probably fast asleep over the covers, was Luz. Earmuffs. Except without the earmuffs.

Amity approached her, slowly. She was considering whether it would be a good idea to wake her up… when she noticed something odd.

Luz’s ears… weren’t quite the shape you’d normally expect ears to be. Not human ears, at least. They were long and narrow, with a pointy end, with a vague resemblance to those of elf characters from fantasy stories. Were they real? Surely they couldn’t be. Nobody had ears like those. And yet, they looked remarkably real. Amity felt the sudden urge to touch them, and even reached forward for a moment before she realized just how wrong it would be.  _She’s asleep,_ Amity thought, scolding herself.  _Don’t be a creep._

She stared for a moment, unable to figure out what to do in such a situation. Then she saw Luz’s face scrunch up. The girl muttered something in her sleep and… her ears twitched.

Amity nearly jumped.

They were real. They had to be.

“Luuuz!” came a voice from somewhere outside the room.

Amity panicked. Someone was coming for Luz, and whoever it was would find Amity as well. She had to run. She had to hide. She had to do something. Anything.

The stranger called Luz’s name again. Amity looked for a way out, but the only one she could find was through the door that led to the corridor outside, and that’s where the voice was coming from. She had no option but to hide. Quick! Under the bed!

The person walked into the room. Person? From under the bed, Amity could see little more than a pair of feet, but what sort of feet were those? Dog paws? 

“Hey, Luz, wake up,” they said.

Amity heard movement on the bed, above her, and knew that this meant Luz had woken up.

“King?” she called. “What’s the matter?”

“I request your assistant, servant,” said the other.

“Fleas again?” Luz asked, still sounding drowsy.

“Don’t say that out loud!” the other ushered her. “The King of Demons has no fleas… usually. Aaaanyway, can you help?”

Luz groaned. “I’m all out of bile,” she muttered. “I’ll collapse if I use any more. Go and ask Eda to buy you  some of that flea medication from the human market.”

“I hate that stuff!” the one called King complained. “It’s gross, smells weird and makes my skin all greasy.”

“It’s either that or fleas,” Luz announced. “I won’t be going back to the isles until next Friday.”

Amity saw the… being… sit on the floor and start scratching themself with their hind legs.

“Fine, I’ll take it. Ask Eda, right?”

The dog (?) left the room, walking only on their hind legs. They returned less than a minute later, calling for Luz once more.

“Eda won’t take me,” they complained. “She’s tired. Babies and all. I order you to take her place, my minion.”

“King, be nice,” said Luz.

They sighed. “Fine. Will you buy the gross flea medication for me? Pretty please?”

Amity saw Luz’s feet as she got off the bed. At least  _her_ feet looked normal.  Amity was starting to  expect all the things in the Owl House to be strange and borderline unreal.

I t was a while. Luz walked out of the room, and Amity heard her feet as she walked down the steps to the living room. King was still around, though. Amity waited for they to leave, but they never did.  At some point, Amity realized that King had fallen asleep on the floor, near the wardrobe.

That’s my chance, she said. Furtively, Amity crawled out from under the bed, and tiptoed her way to the door. Then she turned around, and was just about to dash down the corridor when she saw Luz, at the top of the stairs, staring at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, when I paste formatted text from LibreOffice here, it adds spaces at random all over the text. I'll fix these eventually, but please bear with it in the meantime? Thanks everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

“Amity?” Luz asked, stupefied.

“Erm… hi, Luz,” Amity wanted to die.

Luz took a few steps toward her. She had her beanie on, hiding her ears. On her right hand, she held a brown paper bag, with what Amity supposed was the flea medication for her talking dog. _Talking dog!_ Seriously, what was going on here? Was this a dream? It couldn’t be real. Maybe she had hallucinated the whole thing? Amity knew the twins liked to experiment with certain dubious herbs and mushrooms… what if Emira had put something on her food?

“You… were you in my room, right now?”

Ach! Caught red handed.

“I was… er, looking for the bathroom?”

Smooth, Amity, real smooth. There’s no way on Earth this girl wasn’t going to see through such an obvious lie.

...or was there?

Suddenly, Amity saw the doubt leave the other woman’s face, and then Luz smiled warmly at her.

“It’s at the end of the corridor, silly.”

Amity nodded, and just to keep her lie believable, she turned around and walked to where Luz indicated the bathroom was. She locked the door, waited for a minute while looking at her flushed cheeks and dismal expression in the mirror, then opened the door and walked outside again. Luz wasn’t in the corridor anymore. Maybe she’d gone into her room. That’d be fine. Let’s just leave before we make this whole thing even more embarrassing. She walked briskly toward the stairs, but had to stop when she passed by Luz’s room and the girl called her from inside.

“Oh, Amity, come here!” said Luz, with her usual cheerful disposition.

Amity silently cursed her luck, then turned to look inside the room.

Luz was sitting on the bed, with a book in her hands. There was no sign of the talking dog. She couldn’t have imagined, could she? Amity made a mental note to schedule an appointment with a shrink sometime that week.

“Come look!” said Luz, excitedly, motioning her over. “I think you’re gonna like this.”

Amity took a couple of wary steps into the room. Luz raised the book she was holding for Amity to see the cover, and Amity could barely believe it.

The illustration showed two women, one with green hair and a white dress, the other a redhead in a blue dress. They were holding a staff with a blue gem on top. Azura, Hecate and the Staff of Banishment. The familiar logo of the “Good Witch Azura” series was stamped on it, along with a number “5”. Amity gaped. It looked almost too good to be true.

“But… how?” she asked. “It… was only supposed to come out next month.

“I got it last Friday. There was a pre-release event in a book fair that I went to, back home. Only one-hundred copies sold, you have no idea how much I had to fight to get my hands on this. Here, take a look.”

Amity received the book from Luz’s hands with reverence. She caressed the cover. Hecate was Amity’s favorite character, and she was _on the cover_. That’s so cool. A million questions ran through her head, then, and the answers were right before her. What happened to Hecate after she was captured by Vanquime the Jester on the Secret Cave of Meniscus in the Knee mountain? Did Azura manage to find the elusive Malingale and retrieve the Demon Stone? Who was it really that was sending all those fake letters to Azura’s mom?

She needed to know. Amity looked up at Luz, her eyes asking her for permission.

Luz smirked. “Go on.”

Amity turned the cover open. There was a message on the front page, scribbled in purple ink. Handwritten.

“It’s… signed?!”

Luz beamed. “Yeah, it was a meet-and-greet with the author.”

Amity inspected the page, still disbelieving.

> _To my dedicated fan, Luz Noceda._
> 
> _You rock that cosplay, kid._
> 
> _Send my regards to your mom._
> 
> _Azura._

Her eyes lingered over that signature for a moment.

“It’s signed ‘Azura’,” she pointed out. Now that she thought about it, it was the exact same signature as the one on the poster that Luz had hanging in her room.

“Yeah,” said Luz, happily. “I wanted to get Hecate’s autograph, to match, but she never shows up at those events. I still want to meet her at least once, though.”

Amity chuckled, amused. Another prank, right? She shook her head. “What the hell, Luz?”

Luz furrowed her brow. “Um… I’m sorry? Don’t you like Hecate? I mean… I know you like the series because Eda says you’re always asking her for the next volume. And I know that Hecate was a bitch to Azura at first, but she redeemed herself on book two, didn’t she?”

“I like Hecate,” Amity admitted. It was her favorite character, after all. “And I know you like pretending magic is real and all, but this is getting ridiculous already.”

“I don’t think I follow,” said Luz.

“This,” Amity pointed at the signature on the first page. “Pretending that these characters are real and you know them. Even faking autographs. Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”

Amity was smirking as she said it. To her, it was obviously all an elaborate joke. But as she looked up at the girl in front of her, she saw the hurt in Luz’s eyes.

“You think I’m pretending?” Luz asked. Amity felt a pang of guilt. Why did she have to look so miserable? It was unfair.

“Well, obviously…” said Amity. “Witches aren’t real, Luz.”

“Amity?”

“Yes?”

“I’m a witch.”

For a moment, Amity was at a loss for words. She wanted to laugh, and to dismiss it as just a joke. But something was stopping her. It was that look on Luz’s face, that told Amity that her friend really did believe what she was telling her. It wasn’t a prank, not to Luz.”

“Right,” said Amity, disconcerted. “And I’m a werewolf.” She tried to sound playful, but it was so weird that Luz believed herself a witch that she might have come across as mocking.

“No, you’re not,” said Luz, dead serious. “Werewolves have a little patch of fur on their shoulders, and they don’t have round ears, of course, that’s a human thing.”

“What are you—” Amity stopped talking. The memory of Luz’s ears flashed back to Amity, and the way they’d twitched in her sleep.

A voice came from somewhere behind her. “Oh, Luuuuuuuuz…”

Amity turned around. It was the dog again, standing on their hind legs in the doorway.

“Who’s that?” the dog asked.

“King, meet Amity, she’s a friend of mine.”

“A new minion to my army?!” exclaimed King, dashing up to her. Amity flinched. There was a talking bipedal dog with a skull mask talking to her. “Bow to me, peasant!” the dog ordered.

“King, we’ve talked about this, haven’t we?” said Luz. “You gotta be nice to the people in this world. And didn’t Eda warn you not to show yourself around humans? Unless you want me to send you back to the Isles.”

King whimpered. “Sorry. I’ll behave.”

Amity was looking at him, fascinated. “Is it real?”

“Of course he’s real,” said Luz. “King came along with me when I decided to move in with Eda. The Isles… haven’t been much welcoming to either of us, as of late. I miss my mom and sometimes I visit her, other times I go there to fetch Eda’s packages, but I don’t really plan on going back definitely. Neither does King, right?”

King nodded, sadly.

“What happened?” Amity asked. She still couldn’t believe any of the things Luz was telling her were real, but she also couldn’t deny the things that were right before her eyes, then.

“The Emperor doesn’t like us demons,” said King. “He’s been trying to hunt us all out of existence, and every day there’s more and more hunters prowling the isles.”

“As for me,” said Luz, “Mom’s been pressing me to join a coven. There’s a rule in the Isles that all witches must join a coven by the time they’re seventeen. But covens limit your magic abilities, and you’re expected to work for them for the rest of your life. I don’t wanna do any of that. So I… ran away.”

“You keep talking about these Isles, but what are they?”

Luz stared at Amity with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Want me to show you?”


	9. Chapter 9

“So you won’t go back to the Isles to help me, but you’ll do it for a human? You disappoint me, Luz.”

“Put a sock in it, King,” said Luz, grinning.

They were standing in the storage room of the Owl House bookstore. Luz took the briefcase from the floor, and raised it in the air. The briefcase opened and then unfolded into what looked like… a door? Why a door? It looked rather ominous with that large yellow eye on the front. Amity had been right, before: As far as she could tell, it was an actual eye. It blinked at her, and stared between Amity, Luz and King.

Luz took Amity’s hand and smiled at her. Something inside Amity’s chest tugged at that touch. Excitement, but also apprehension, and anxiety. “Are you ready?” Luz asked her.

“No,” Amity replied.

“Good,” said Luz, smile unwavering. “We never are.”

She turned the doorknob on that strange eye door, and pushed it open.

Amity couldn’t believe her eyes. How should she? There was a door in the middle of a storage room that opened into a meadow. It defied everything Amity had ever believed in. Out of all the strange things that had happened with her ever since she met Luz, this one took the cake.

Luz tugged at her hand, pulling Amity out of her trance. Amity shrugged, and followed Luz as the other gently led her into the doorway.

Once she was outside, the world had changed. She was no longer indoors. The meadow stretched around her, seemingly endlessly. The sky above was lilac, a different color from the light blue she’d been used to all her life. The grass swayed in the wind, and the trees… did that tree just walk?

Luz let go of her hand, and took a few steps forward. She turned around, grinning, and opened her arms. “Welcome to the Boiling Isles,” she said, cheerfully.

Amity saw Luz trip on something as she was walking backward further into the meadow, and the girl fell on her back. A rock on the ground rumbled for a second. It grew legs (!) and stared at Luz with two pairs of eyes.

“Watch it, punk,” said the rock. It turned and walked away from them.

Amity ran over to where Luz had fallen, worried, but she found her friend laughing. Amity sighed, feeling the apprehension leave her. She offered Luz a hand to pull her to her feet, and the girl gladly accepted.

“Should have been more careful,” said Luz. “Wrocks don’t really like being stepped on.”

“I can tell,” said Amity. “What is this place?” she asked in wonder.

Luz smirked. “Okay, remember that scene in book two where Azura has to find a Cringing Flower to save the counselor from Fatal Hilarity?”

“Um, yeah, what of it?”

“This is where she found the flower,” said Luz.

Amity gaped. She looked around for a second time, taking in the details of her surroundings. She could see it, now. But then, that meant…

“Are you telling me that all those places in the Azura books — Bonesborough, the Knee, Lake Lacuna — they’re all _real?!_ ”

Luz pursed her lips and nodded, a slightly condescending look on her face. “That’s kind of what I’ve been trying to tell you,” said the girl.

“And you’re a witch?!” Amity exclaimed, dumbfounded. “An actual, honest-to-goodness witch?!”

Luz pulled the beanie off her head, allowing the other girl to see her narrow, pointy ears for a second time.

That… explained a lot of things. Amity had to sit down for a moment. It was a lot to take in. Unfortunately, however, she chose to sit on a rock, or a wrock, and the creature pushed Amity to the ground while cursing the girl and her entire family line.

“Well, that… wasn’t very nice,” said the human girl. “What a stuck up rock.”

“Here, let me help you,” said Luz, and this time it was she who pulled Amity to her feet. Amity thanked her, and was a little surprised when the witch did not let go of her hand. They started walking through the meadow together.

“So… any place in particular that you want to visit?”

Amity scoffed, grinning. It was all so surreal. She thought back to the stories in her favorite book series. There were so many incredible (and incredibly dangerous) places in the Azura books that it was hard to pick one. Were all of those real too? And on that note…

“Luz, tell me something… You said you met Azura for real in a book fair, and now you’re telling me that her character came to these meadows for a flower. Are you telling me that the stuff in the Azura books… was all… real?”

“Yeah,” said Luz, happily. “Well, mostly. I suspect she may have exaggerated some things for the dramatic effect. You know that scene in book four where Azura has to flee from Vanquime’s lair of doom and a healer found her on the brink of death?”

Amity nodded. Book four was her favorite, she had memorized every single thing that happened in it.

“Well,” Luz continued, “The healer is my mom, actually. She remembers finding Azura in that forest, and she says that Azura really only had a sprained ankle and a bad headache, back then.”

Amity gaped. “Wait… your mom is Camila the Healer?”

Luz nodded. “The one and only.”

Amity chucked, then burst out laughing. Luz looked at her with concern.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

Amity shook her head, and wiped a couple of tears from the corner of her eyes, still grinning. “No, it’s just… It’s unbelievable, you know.”

“Which part?”

“All of it,” Amity explained. “Azura, this place, your mother, and… you.” She stared into Luz’s face. “I still can’t believe you’re real.”

“Well…” said Luz, “I didn’t believe in humans either, until recently. But then I met Eda, and that was… well, it was quite a shock.”

Amity nodded. Luz had probably been as surprised as she was at that moment.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Luz… Eda mentioned you helping her with her business. I know she sends you here to pick her deliveries, but what is it that you do, exactly? Or rather, what is it that Eda does? How did she know about this world in the first place?”

“To be honest, I ask myself the same thing,” said Luz. “I’ve heard about freakcases in the past, but nobody had seen one in centuries. I thought they were folklore.” The witch noticed the look of confusion on her friend’s face, and proceeded to clarify: “That creature with the large yellow eye, that opens a portal to a different world or place.”

“Oh,” said Amity.

“In any case… It’s surprising enough that freakcases are actually real, and even more unbelievable that a human would have one. But I saw Eda coming through it with my own eyes.”

“And then you became her business associate?”

Luz laughed. “She told you that?” Amity nodded, to the witch’s amusement. “Well, sort of. You see, Eda takes things from the Isles that nobody wants and sells them to humans in your world. Trash, mostly. Things like dragon blood, unicorn horns, phoenix feathers, you know, useless stuff.”

“What about the books?” Amity wondered.

“Some are outdated,” Luz explained. “Others have sold poorly, a few have print errors and can’t be sold in the isles. And every once in a while a book is so successful that too many copies are printed. Like Azura’s. Eda comes here andtrades the books for human stuff. Last Friday she got five volumes of the Witch in the Wardrobe series in exchange for a roll of bubble wrap.”

Amity snickered. Bubble wrap? Really?

An idea occurred to her.

“Hey, so, if the things in the Azura books are real… what happened to Hecate after she was captured?”

Luz stopped walking, and looked at the human with a malicious smile. “Amity Blight, are you asking me for spoilers?”

“No! I mean, well, yes, that is, if it’s okay with you, of course.”

Luz giggled. “Nope. Not giving you any spoilers. Read the book.”

Amity groaned. “I’m tired of waiting.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you can borrow mine.”

Amity’s eyes gleamed. “Wait… really?”

“Yeah, I’ve read it twice already,” said Luz, beaming. “Besides, that’s what friends are for… I mean, we’re friends, right?”

Amity laughed. “Yes, Luz, we’re friends.”

_Dear diary,_

_Today was really weird._

_Also, I made a new friend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weekends are the only days I get free time, lately, so I'm trying to make the most of them. I really love writing this story. See you next week (probably).


	10. Chapter 10

Amity devoured the fifth volume of The Good Witch Azura. Suddenly she was glad Luz had refused to give her spoilers: this was just too good to waste. Azura had finally managed to retrieve the demon stone, and damn, Malingale was hot. But the most surprising of all was Hecate. As a rival, she figured very little in the first book. Then there was the witches’ duel, and the fight against the Slitherbeast, and they became friends. That’s what they were at the end of book four. Friends. Very good friends, in fact. But as she read volume five, Amity slowly began to question if maybe they weren’t being a little _too_ friendly with each other?

She was in the last chapter, now, completely entranced by the story, and already dreading the end of it. Azura and Hecate  were  waltzing while fighting a nightmarish beast, yet even in such danger they only had eyes for each other. The battle ended as the two witches combined their spells to land a final blow.

> _Pink_ _petals rained over them as Azura and Hecate held each other. They were smiling. Grometheus’ reign of terror had finally come to an end. Malingale had foreseen that this would not be the last of Azura’s trials, but for now the two witches allowed themselves to indulge in the peace that came after_ _succeeding in_ _an arduous quest._
> 
> _Hecate stared deeply into the good witch’s eyes._
> 
> “ _I have something to ask you.”_
> 
> “ _Yes, Hecate?”_
> 
> “ _Azura… would you k_

Amity closed the book, feeling herself blush.

She took a deep breath, then opened the book again. She couldn’t believe what she’d just read, so she read it all over again. Five times. Hecate had just asked Azura for a kiss and Amity was so not ready for that.

Then, suddenly, all the pieces started falling into place. The cute friendship bonding scenes between Hecate and Azura hadn’t been friendship scenes at all. They were  _flirting_ .

“Oh my god…”

She leafed through the book, searching for specific interactions between the two witches, then reading them again with a new understanding. It all made so much sense now that Amity was kicking herself for not having realized it sooner. Like that scene where Azura asks Hecate if she’s feeling cold: Hecate was born and raised in the south pole, and she even had a polar bear dog for a best friend, of course she wasn’t feeling cold. And their letters to each other. Oh man the letters.

Amity closed the book once more, and laid on her back to stare at the ceiling. Azura and Hecate were a… a couple. A gay couple? Do witches even have such concepts as gay and straight? Maybe it just didn’t  matter to them. Amity made a mental note to ask Luz about it, the next time she saw the witch.

The next time… at school?

Oh, crap.  She’d totally forgotten to have that conversation with Luz about Willow. As much as she didn’t want to, Amity had to at least let Luz know that the two human girls weren’t on speaking terms with each other, if only to avoid some awkward situations at school.

There was a knock on her door. Amity panicked, and hid the Azura book under her pillow.

“Come in,” she said, thinking it was probably Ed and Em coming to bother her.

To her surprise, it wasn’t her siblings. It was Boscha.

“Happy birthday, Mit!” said the redhead, walking up to her to hand her a package in gift wrap. Amity flinched. What day was today, again? She checked her phone. August, 3rd.

“Ugh, I had forgotten about that,” said Amity, annoyed.

“You always do,” said Boscha, jumping on her bed. “Girl you look like shit. What happened to your face?” she asked, indicating her eyes.

Amity glanced at her reflection in the vanity mirror. She had dark bags under her eyes.

“Oh, hm… I’m having a bit of insomnia, lately.” A big fat lie. The truth was that she had stayed up all night reading the fifth volume of Azura. A glance at her smartphone screen told Amity that it was 9:45 in the morning, which meant she really had overdone it, this time.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Boscha asked, motioning at the package in her friend’s hands.

“Oh, right,” said Amity.

She proceeded to carefully unfold the gift wrap, revealing a book. That alone wasn’t surprising. Everyone knew Amity liked books, I mean, she basically lived in the city library. But Boscha’s gift wasn’t just any book. It was…

“The Foundation, by Asimov?” Amity stared, dumbfounded. Did Boscha, of all people, actually pick her that book? Shocking! Wait… unless… “Hey, Bosch, do you know what this book is about?”

“Yeah, duh, it’s about makeup, right?”

Amity snorted. She should have guessed.

“Thanks for the gift, Bosch.”

“No problem,” said the redhead. “So, hey, what are your plans for today?”

“Oh, you know me,” Amity replied, smirking, “I was thinking of lying in bed for the whole day and avoiding all unnecessary human contact whatsoever. Which seemed to be going fine, until you showed up.”

“Depressing,” Boscha scowled. “Say, there’s another party at Skara’s tonight. If you join us it can double as a birthday party.”

I scoffed. “Again?! Didn’t she just host one last week? How does she get the money for all that food and booze? I thought her parents had cut her allowance!”

“They did, yes, so I’m paying for those.” Amity wrinkled her forehead at Boscha’s declaration, and the redhead raised her hands, as if pleading innocence. “Hey, it’s only fair, right? She’s already letting us use her house, and I need parties to function.”

Amity rolled her eyes. “You could go to a nightclub, maybe?”

“Yeah, but that means fake-ids and undesirable company,” said Boscha.” The best part of being the host is that you get to cherry-pick your guest list. Totally worth the extra cost, by the way.” Boscha smiled in a devilish way. “And besides, this one’s gonna be smaller, more intimate. No strangers. No undesirables. No more Amelia inviting Half-Wit Willow because Amelia’s not invited, either. VIPs only. You catch my drift?”

Amity averted her eyes, the look on her face a mix of  sadness and  anxiety . “ Sure, Bosch. I’ll be there.”

Boscha grinned. “I knew I could count on you, bestie.  Oh, by the way, could you let the twins know? Skara asked me to make sure they’re invited.”

Amity blinked twice, and seemed to be having a hard time processing what she’d heard. “Wait, what? You want me to invite Ed and Em? What happened to ‘no undesirables’, Bosch?”

“I know, I know,” said Boscha, giggling and apparently finding it all too funny. “I can’t help it, this time, it’s literally the only thing Skara asked me for when I proposed the party. She likes them, for some reason.”

That made Amity suspicious.  “ Who else is invited?”

“Hmm… let me see.” Boscha started counting on her fingers. “You, me, Edric, Emira, Bo, Eileen, Jerbo, Barcus, some girl called Viney, most of the girls and guys from the rugby team, also Pacifica and Mabel... you remember them, right? Skara’s friends from… golf class or something. Then there’s Mabel’s brother, two of Skara’s ex-boyfriends, two of _my_ ex-boyfriends, and those three cool guys from Glandus High. Also the whole sophomore class from Hexside High. Minus the losers, of course. I think I’m forgetting someone, but they’re probably not important anyway.”

A mity had to laugh, if only at her own disgrace.

“Yeah. No strangers. I actually believed you for a second, Bosch.”

Boscha snickered. “Should have known better, Mit. In any case, you already said ‘yes,’ so we’ll be expecting you tonight. No take-backsies, I’m not gonna let you spend your birthday all cooped up and alone,” she got to her feet. “ E ight o’clock, bring the twins,” said the girl, before  exiting the room .


	11. Chapter 11

Amity knocked at her siblings’ room. “Ed? Em? You in there?”

She waited. No response, huh? What could they be up to, now? Nothing good, that’s for sure. Amity shrugged. Well, that was none of her concern. Great!This meant she wouldn’t be able to invite them to Skara’s party. I mean, she couldn’t help it if the twins weren’t home, right?

But just as she was turning around to leave, a strangled voice came from somewhere beyond the door.

“Mittens… heelp… I’m sick…”

_Sick?! Edric is sick?!_

Amity opened the door, anxious and worried, and found her brother lying on the floor, surrounded by books and empty water bottles. “Heeelp…” he said, with a frail voice. Amity rushed over to him, and took him in her arms.

“Ed? Ed? What happened to you?! Do you need me to call mom and dad?!”

“I’m not long for this world, Mittens…” he said, and then added, theatrically: “I’m sick… of mathematics.”

Edric closed his eyes, as if giving in to the sweet embrace of death. Amity scowled, and eyed the open textbooks on the floor with disdain before she dropped Ed’s body on the floor unceremoniously. He bumped his head on the hardwood floor.

“Ouch! You’re mean, Mittens.”

Amity just growled, and stared at him from above. “Grow up, Ed. Where’s Emira, by the way?”

Ed looked at her with saddened eyes. “Emira… she… she didn’t make it... She... succumbed, Mittens.”

 _Yeah, I’m not falling for that a second time._ She raised an eyebrow and stared at Ed’s performance. If he weren’t such a major pain in the ass, Amity might have considered bringing him into her theatre troupe.

“Uh uh…” said Amity, with disdain. “And what did Emira succumb to, exactly?”

Edric raised a hand to his forehead, dramatically. “Emira succumbed… to the nefarious power of brand store special discounts! Oh, the horror!”

Amity arched her eyebrows, unimpressed. “So she’s at the mall?” she asked, and Edric nodded. “And why aren’t you with her, Ed? I thought you liked going to sales with Em. But instead you’re… in your room… studying math…” she furrowed her brow, confused. “Ed, it’s August, there’s no classes, why are you even doing this stuff?”

Edric made a face. “Alas, it appears our beloved parents were unimpressed with my performance in mathematics last semester. I have been sentenced to spend the prime of my youth in confinement,toiling away with… numbers…” he shivered.

Amity smirked. _Okay. Ed definitely needs to join a theatre troupe. He’s way too good at this. Just not my troupe, of course._

“Fine,” said the girl. “Anyway, I’m just here to tell you that you and Em were invited to a party at Skara’s tonight. Could you let Em know? It seems that Skara wants you there, or something. Oh, and by the way, I’m going out for a bit. If anyone asks, I’m at the library.”

“Are you going to that bookshop again?” Edric asked.

That was unexpected. Amity gaped. “What? How do _you_ know about that?”

“Emira told me, of course,” said Ed, matter-of-factly. “Don’t act surprised, Mittens, you know we tell each other everything since we were kids. And it appears that you’ve been spending an awful lot of time there, lately. What, you have a secret boyfriend or something?”

Amity’s face turned red with anger.

“No,” she said. “I have a friend there. And she’s a girl, for goodness’ sake.”

“Could be a girlfriend too,” said Edric, smirking.

“She’s _not_ my girlfriend. I don’t _have_ girlfriends, Ed.”

“Why are you so bothered by this?” Edric asked. “I mean, it’s not like anyone here would mind if you did. Not after… you know, _me_.” He pointed at himself.

Amity rubbed her temples,  annoyed . “Yeah, yeah, I know.  Haven’t we talked about this before , Ed? I’m not gay.  Or… bi, or trans, or whatever . Besides, I don’t have a boyfriend, I’m not interested in anyone, and would you and Em please stop  giving me a hard time? I’m just going out with a friend, it’s no big deal.”

“I’m your brother,” Ed snickered. “Siblings are meant to give each other a hard time, it’s in the job description. Besides, we’ve never seen you hang out with anyone other than Boscha and her crew. And... you know, Willow, but that was a long time ago. So of course we’re curious. We care about you, Mittens. Don’t you trust us?”

“Evidently, no,” Amity retorted.

Edric looked down at the floor, looking rejected, like an abandoned puppy that has lost all hope.  _Ugh! How is he so good at this?! I can’t be this soft that I’m falling for this, can I?_

Amity sighed, feeling defeated. “Fine. Her name’s Luz, she’s a transfer student, and she helps out at the bookstore. We’re about the same age and we have a similar taste in books. She’s… fun.”

Ed looked up at her with gleamy eyes. “Mittens has a new best friend! This is so great!”

Amity groaned, facepalmed, and turned around to leave. “Just…let Emira know about the party, okay? Message her or something.”

Edric nodded. “Will do. Have fun on your date, Mittens.”

Amity wished she could kill Edric just then.

—

Luz wasn’t at the Owl House. The bookstore was closed, lights off and everything. Amity didn’t know why she was surprised, it wasn’t the first time this happened. She knew Eda didn’t really care for business hours.

She frowned, then turned around to go back, gripping the fifth volume of the Azura book series, the one Luz let her borrow. What now? There were still a few hours to go before she had to head back and start getting ready for Skara’s party. Maybe she really would go to the library, after all.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw her. Luz was sitting on a park bench, not far from the bookstore. That was great. She could return the book, and maybe kill some time asking her questions about the Boiling Isles, before it was time for the party. Amity shouted to get Luz’s attention, then ran over to her.

“Hey!” she said, stopping next to the brunette. Luz was wearing her beanie, this time, and Amity thought that it looked endearing. “Here, your book,” said Amity, remembering it.

Luz looked at the book in Amity’s hands, surprised. “Oh, are you sure? You can keep it for a while longer, if you want. There’s no hurry.”

“Why…” Amity began to say, feeling conflicted, “…didn’t you tell me that Azura and Hecate were a couple?!”

Luz grinned. “And ruin the surprise? Definitely not.” She accepted the book back. “So… which part was your favorite?”

Amity hummed, thinking about it for a moment.

“I suppose it was Malingale beating the shit out of a horde of hungry wraiths. Oracle magic is… well, it’s interesting.”

Luz was grinning as she said it. “Yeah, I love it, too. Hey, did you know I met them, once? Malingale, I mean. They’re just _so cool_. Just wait until the next time we’re at the isles together, you’re gonna love them.”

Amity gaped.

“Wait… you’re saying I can meet Malingale? For real?”

“Damn right you can,” said Luz, beaming. “They moved into Bonesborough, a couple of years back. It turns out that being a recluse in a secret cave surrounded by feral demons on the farthest regions of the isles isn’t really good for business. They’re a lot better off now that they opened a shop in the city.It opens at nightfall, by the way. I could take you there tonight, if you want. What do you say?”

Amity’s eyes glistened for a moment at the suggestion, until she remembered that she already had a previous commitment. “I can’t, not tonight…” she told Luz. “A friend of mine is throwing a party, and I’m expected to be there.” An idea occurred to her. “Do you want to come?” she asked, out of impulse.

That surprised Luz. “Come? You mean, to the party, with you?”

Amity pursed her lips, mildly regretting her previous words. “I suppose human parties aren’t your thing, right? I shouldn’t have assumed, I’m sorry for suggesting it.”

“I’m in,” said Luz, snickering.

Amity hesitated. “What… do you really mean it?”

Luz laughed. “Well, obviously! I love parties! Although I must admit I haven’t been to that many, before. You know, not many people liked me in the Isles,” Luz excitement wavered as she said it, for just a moment, before she was back to her bubbly self. “But that’s in the past, now. If you ever need me to accompany you, I’m your gal! Human parties, here I go!”


End file.
